ABSTRACT
In a book condemning of religion entitled The End of Faith, author Sam Harris begins with an example intended to shock the reader:
The young man boards the bus as it leaves the terminal. He wears an overcoat. Beneath his overcoat, he is wearing a bomb. His pockets are filled with nails, ball bearings, and rat poison…. The young man smiles. With the press of a button he destroys himself, the couple at his side, and twenty others on the bus… . The young man’s parents soon learn of his fate. Although saddened to have lost a son, they feel tremendous pride at his accomplishment. They know he has gone to heaven and prepared the way for them to follow. He has also sent his victims to hell for eternity. It is a double victory.1
